Avon's Recently Retired Fire Chief Reflects On His Tenure

AVON — — James DiPace, the recently retired chief of the Avon Volunteer Fire Department, has dedicated his entire adult life to fire service. Now, he's packing up 16 years of memories, including plaques, pictures and his chief's hat, and consolidating his two offices into one.

Michael Trick was sworn in as DiPace's replacement on New Year's Day, but DiPace will continue to serve as fire marshal and emergency management director, as well as the town's building official, when he has "nothing to do."

It's hard to imagine DiPace, 55, having nothing to do. Aside from his several positions in town, he and his wife, Janet, are the grandparents of two young girls, pictures of whom plaster DiPace's office.

"[Retiring as chief] gives me some freedom," DiPace said. "It allows me to do [the fire marshal] job better … to focus on the fire prevention side of things, and emergency management."

DiPace, an Avon native, followed his father's footsteps into the fire department in 1973 at age 18.

"It was an automatic thing," he said. "And I really got hooked on it."

Once he started, the satisfaction of helping people kept him interested.

"Every call that we go to may not [seem like] an emergency to us, but it's typically an emergency to that person," he said. "And when you can help them to the best of your ability, you know, that's what we do."

Over the past 37 years, DiPace worked his way up the ranks, becoming chief in 1995. He said he's proud of the department's many accomplishments during his time as chief, including establishing water supplies in areas of town without hydrants and remaining a volunteer fire department "when volunteerism really dropped off."

He's also proud of the way his team handled the 2005 truck crash on Avon Mountain that killed four people and injured several others. Two large pictures of the accident scene, as well as a letter from then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell thanking him for his work that day, hang in his office.

"It's something we'll never forget," he said. "Everybody just did an outstanding job that day, for what they were faced with."

DiPace is quick to give credit to the department members for his accomplishments through the years.

"I was very fortunate to have a team of folks who worked hard and did whatever they could to make it a success," he said. "It's not all about me, it's about us. That's what the fire service has to be. One person's not going to do this alone."

One reason that DiPace said he chose to leave now was to pay tribute to his predecessor, Don Griswold, who was fire chief for 17 years — one year longer than DiPace. Griswold, too, served as fire marshal while he was chief. DiPace said that Griswold helped him get the fire marshal's job.

"He really grew the fire department," DiPace said. "I wanted Don to be the longest-serving fire chief. It may sound corny, but it's my way of thanking him."

Besides his fellow firefighters, DiPace said he couldn't have been successful without his family.

"My kids grew up with me going to meetings and being away and leaving the dinner table for a call, and they supported me through the whole thing," he said. "Without that support, you're dead."

DiPace's daughter and son-in-law both volunteer with the department now.

"It's hard to envision that it's been 16 years. My daughter was 10 when I became fire chief, and now she's got two kids? Talk about time flying," he said. "It's been a blast."